Pet Transport To Spain – Useful Introduction

Due to the frequency of our trips and the fact two of our team who live in the country, Pet Transport Services have earned a reputation as a specialist when it comes to pet transport to Spain. In this article I will set out some of the things pet owners need to consider when transporting a pet between the UK and Spain. While the rules and regulations are still fairly straightforward to follow for the average pet owner, using a specialist pet courier company certainly reduces the stress, particularly for those who are relocating country and not just wanting to vacation in a different country with their pet. For anyone who has moved house within the UK you can probably appreciate that it can be a stressful time, when that move is to a completely new country there is even more to consider. For pet owners using a pet transport specialist means just one less thing to worry about.

Planning Your Pet’s Move to Spain

There are a number of things your pet will need if you want to relocate it from the UK to Spain. It’s always worth knowing these requirements well before the planned move so that you have time to get everything organised to ensure your pet qualifies. The rules for bringing a pet into Spain are set out by MAPA (Ministerio De Agricultura, Pesca Y Alimentación) and their website covers the basic requirements:

MAPA – Travelling with dogs, cats and ferrets

Since almost all the enquiries we receive relate to cats and dogs the following requirements apply:

Required Paperwork, Vaccinations & Considerations

• Up to date rabies vaccination. It should be noted that for a primary rabies vaccination there is a requirement that at least 21 days will have to pass before the pet can travel. This 21 day requirement is waived for booster rabies vaccinations as long as the previous vaccination was given after microchipping and the booster vaccination was given before the previous vaccination had expired.
• Microchipping. Pets will need to be microchipped. Tattoos are also allowable instead of a microchip but only if the tattoo was done before 3rd July 2011 and is still legible. Based on this date applicable pets will be a minmum of almost 13 years old at time of writing. This tattoo rule will therefore become less and less relevant in the coming years.
• Animal Health Certificate or Pet Passport. When the UK was a member of the European Union pet passports issued within the UK were considered an acceptable travel document for pets. The rules changed post Brexit and since January 2021 Animal Health Certificates have replaced UK issued pet passports. I use the term UK but strictly speaking I should use the term GB since Northern Ireland is currently treated differently to the rest of the UK. Again it’s a good idea to plan ahead and shedule an appointment with your vet in order to ensure you obtain your Animal Health Certificate in plenty of time. It’s possible to write an entire article about Animal Health Certificates but I won’t go into more detail here since vets who issue these will be able to answer any questions you have. As previously mentioned though plan ahead since not all vets automatically issues Animal Health Certificates as part of the services they offer.

Pet Transport To Spain – Flight Or Road Transport?

Most people who need to transport a pet from the UK to Spain or indeed from Spain to the UK end up opting for transporting by road. Here at Pet Transport Services we only offer a road transport option but we feel it’s the better option for a number of reasons. Firstly it should be noted that for pets flying into the UK they must travel as cargo. The rules relating to flying with pets from the UK to Spain are however somewhat more relaxed and a limited number of airlines will allow pets to travel in the cabin or as checked-in baggage. When you delve deeper however you tend to find that hardly any airlines offer this on direct flights from the UK to Spain and there can also be limitations on the choice of Spanish destination airports.

For the best value pet transport to Spain many pet owners find our regular scheduled trips to Spain and Portugal one of the best options. Since your pet will travel with a number of others in our dedicated pet transport vehicles, the costs are reduced when compared to a solo trip. We use the Channel Tunnel rather than a ferry which both reduces travel time but also means we stay with the vehicle and your pets throughout the duration of the trip. We hold a DEFRA type 2 licence for our UK based trips but post Brexit we have also obtained the relevant licenses from bodies in the Republic of Ireland and also Northern Ireland that allows us to transport pets within the EU for financial gain. These bodies carry out inspections on vehicles to ensure they meet the regulations. These regulations have requirements relating to both ventilation and temperature control equipment for vehicles which is vital when you consider the vast ambient temperatures experienced in a British winter or indeed a Spanish summer.

Pet Transport To Spain – Previous Reviews

If you need assistance with transporting a pet between the UK and Spain or indeed between the UK and other countries within Europe please feel free to contact us. To finish up this article I thought I would feature just a small selection of our 5 star reviews for previous pet transport jobs between the UK and Spain.